Social Media Channels Terms of Use

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) is currently actively engaged on the following social channels:

We also occasionally post on:

By participating on our social channels you are agreeing to these Terms of Use. Please read them carefully.

What to expect from our social channels

WDGPH reaches local audiences through our social channels using engaging and informative content with a combination of visual images, video, text and sharing partner content. WDGPH uses social channels with the goals of:

  • sharing ongoing information about public health in a timely manner;
  • increasing two-way engagement with local stakeholders;
  • continuously growing and reaching our audiences effectively;
  • building awareness of WDGPHs programs and service; and
  • promoting and protecting the health of our community.

WDGPHs social channels are a place for the community and anyone interested in public health to engage with us and with other participants. We strive to publish recent and relevant evidence-based content and provide up-to-date information on public health-led programs, services and emergency responses.

Posting Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to any social channel where users can directly participate by posting comments, messages or any other means of communicating with our channels. WDGPH:

  1. Requires a valid user account (according to the terms of the applicable social media platform) to participate;
  2. Will moderate and review posted content and may participate or intervene, as appropriate;
  3. Will not respond to all questions, messages or comments and will not monitor our social channels 24/7;
  4. Expects posted comments to be relevant to the section or post they are in response to;
  5. Disclaims all liability for third party comments posted to our social channels; and
  6. Reserves the right to hide or delete comments that are/is:
    • contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
    • racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, slanderous, insulting, intolerant, discriminatory, oppressive, bullying or life-threatening;
    • serious, not proven, not supported, or not accurate accusations against individuals or organizations;
    • offensive, abusive, aggressive, coarse, vulgar, violent, obscene, or pornographic;
    • false information, regardless of intent to mislead;
    • deliberately misleading or biased information, manipulated narrative or facts, and propaganda;
    • encouraging or suggesting illegal activities;
    • infringing on copyright or other intellectual property rights;
    • spam, solicitations, advertisements, or endorsements of any kind;
    • defamatory or and attempt to defraud;
    • announcements from labour or political organizations;
    • not sent by the author and/or posted by anonymous or robot accounts;
    • repetitive, copied and pasted multiple times or by multiple users;
    • unintelligible or irrelevant;
    • off-topic and that the forum moderators feel will not add to the flow of debate;
    • containing personal information, including personal health information;
    • violate any of WDGPHs policies; and/or
    • infringing upon an individual’s privacy.

Violations of Terms

Violations to these terms may result in a warning; hiding or deleting of comments or posts; and/or being blocked from our social channels. WDGPH may also report the user or comment to the social media platform administrator. The discretion of what is deemed an appropriate response to violations of terms is at the sole discretion of WDGPHs channel moderators.

Availability

Although comments and replies are welcome on our social media accounts at any time, WDGPH does not monitor our social channels 24/7. We endeavor to monitor and engage on our social channels during regular business hours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday to Friday (not including holidays). Any activity outside of these hours does not indicate someone is available to respond or is actively monitoring.

Response time

Due to the volume of messages and comments, we are unable to reply to everyone. We endeavor to review posted comments and messages, participate or intervene as appropriate, and provide a response when possible and where deemed appropriate.

Things to consider

  • Comments that do not follow our Posting Guidelines may be removed, and users that ignore these guidelines may be sanctioned further (for example, being blocked from accessing our social channels for viewing or posting).
  • For any matter that is confidential or too complicated for posting on social media, please visit our website to contact the appropriate program or service, or call reception.
  • The servers of social channel providers are managed by third parties. Our social channels may be subject to downtime that is out of our control. WDGPH accepts no responsibility for platforms becoming unresponsive or unavailable.
  • Each social channel has its own Terms of Use that can be found on each social channel website.
  • We will try our best to help you, but we cannot guarantee that we will fully understand your question or that we will be able to answer it. By contacting us through a social channel, you acknowledge that any response we provide to you through the same site:
    • is intended to provide helpful information or resources and
    • is not considered to be definitive advice or guaranteed to resolve your issue or answer your question.

Public health advice and emergencies

The information and resources provided by WDGPH through our social channels are provided as general information and are not intended as a substitute for health care advice. WDGPH will not offer medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment via social channels. If you need emergency medical care or are in crisis, call 9-1-1 immediately. If you need health care on a non-urgent basis, please consult with your health care provider or if you live in Ontario, call Telehealth at 1.866.797.0000.

Privacy

To protect the privacy of all individuals, please DO NOT include identifiable information about your own or someone else’s health care or health status when posting or messaging. WDGPHs social channels are publicly accessible and comments and other content shared through our channels are available for all to see (unless someone has been blocked for terms violations or messages are sent privately). Posts that include personal information may be deleted at WDGPHs discretion.

If you do post personal information, including personal health information, on any of WDGPHs social channels, you are consenting to the collection and use of that information by WDGPH. Such information may be collected for the purpose of obtaining feedback on our programs and policies and will be used to assess public views on those programs and services and other issues. We may also use information that you post to reply to questions you pose, to direct you to other informational resources, or to respond to your comments. In some cases, responses by WDGPH will be available for all to see.

Comments may also be used and disclosed by WDGPH as required or permitted by applicable law, including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004.

Questions

If you have any questions related to our use of social media, please contact communications@wdgpublichealth.ca.